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W. R. OSTRANDER. Speaking Tube Annunoiator. No. 242,360. Patented May 31,1881.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM R. OSTRANDER, 0F NElV YORK, N. Y.

SPEAKING-TUBE ANNUNCIATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 242,360, dated May 31, 1881.

Application filed April 1-2, 1381.

To all whom it may concern Beitknown that I, WILLIAM R. ()s'rnannna, of New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Speaking-Tube Annunciators; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exaetdeseriplion of the same.

The slight sound emitted by the whistle which ordinarily forms an attachment of the mouth of a speaking-tube is frequently heard indistinctly or not at all, even by persons with in a short distance, and hence it has been proposed to provide an automatic alarm which shall be capable of giving distinct notice at a considerable distance of the desire of a person at one end of the tube to communicate with another at the other end, said alarm beingbrough t into operation by a valve that is caused to tilt and drop by blowing into the tube, and in its descent releases a catch or other device that holds the alarm in check.

My invention has for its object to provide a improved alarm attachment of this class, and I have particularly in view a simple inexpensive mechanism in which clock or spring-andratchet gear or other complicated forms of mechanical movements shall be dispensed with. My invention is, in fact, embodied in a simple combination of drop-valves, weighted levers connected by a cord, and an alarm.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a face view of the annunciator, part of the box being removed and a portion of one of the drop-valves broken away. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same. Fig. 8 is a plan view of the alarm proper. Fi 4 is aplau view of the rocker. detached.

All the parts constituting my invention are inclosed in, or form appendages of, a box, A, that in practice may be either set in the wall or attached to its face, as convenience or taste may suggest.

I will first describe the alarm proper.

The bell B is provided with a hinged hammer, O, that operates by its own gravity when raised by means of the trip'lever D. The latter is also pivoted, and operates as a lever of the first class, being tilted by traction of the cord E attached to its outer end. end is weighted and provided with a pivoted trigger, a, that engages a shoulder, 12, of the Its inner (No model.)

hammer 0 when the parts are in the normal po sition. (Shown in full lines, Fig. 1.) Said trigger is pivoted so as to have slight movement in a vertical plane parallel to the longer axis of the lever D. Itis placed and supported in nearly vertical position, and when the lever D is tilted, as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 1, it raises the hammer O, and then, disengaging from it, allows the latter to fall and strike the bell B. When the lever D resumes its former position (full lines) the trigger a passes by the shoulder b of the hammer O and re-engages with the latter as before.

I will next describe the mechanism for operating the alarm. The parts constituting the same arethree in numberto wit, one or more drop valves or covers, F, for the mouths c, of a corresponding number of speaking-tubes, G, a lever, H, which I term the rocker, and the aforementioned cord E.

The drop valves or covers F are hinged just below the months 0 of the speakingtubes, the hinges being set off suiliciently to support the valves vertically, or in their normal closed position, as shown in full lines, Fig. 2, in which case they cover the mouth-pieces or openings 0 of the tubes G.

The rocker H is a rectangular frame (it might, however, have other forms) whose end bars are pivoted at the middle, so as to vibrate in vertical planes. The rocker is located just below the drop-covers F, and the front bar, d, of the same is at such distance from the wall that when a valve, F, falls it will strike upon it, as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 2.

The cord E is attached to the portion 0 of the rocker II which is concealed within the box A, and passes over a pulley, I, placed intermediately of said rocker and the aforedescribed trip-lever D. The pulley is in this case shown attached to the side of box A, at a point below the pivots of the rocker.

The inner portion or bar Z of the rocker H is the heavier, so that normally the rocker assumes an inclined position, the outer bar, (I, being elevated, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The operation of my invention as a whole is as follows: hen a person in a distant portion of a building wishes to communicate with another who is within hearing distance of the bell B he blows in the speaking-tube, and the force of the air-current thus created, being di rected against the cover or valve F at the other end of such tube, causes it to open and thereby drop upon the outer bar, (I, of the rocker H. The valve being constructed of a thick metal plate, and therefore heavy, tilts the rocker H, as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 2, so that the inner end, 0, is depressed correspondingly, and thus exerts traction on the cord E, which, in turn, tilts the lever D that raises the hammer 0, but instantly releases it again and allows it to fall upon the bell B, whose sound gives the required notice. The person thus notified or called will, after responding to the message, close or replace the Weighted valve in its up right position, and thus relieve the rocker, which, being released, returns automatically to its former position, and ready for the next alarm.

The rocker may be employed in connection with one or a great number of valves, and one bell will answer for all.

The apparatus is so simple that it can hardly get out of order, and requires no attendance or care in any respect. These qualities and its economical construction constitute its chief elements of superiority.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. The combination, with an alarm and one or more drop-valves arranged to temporarily close a speaking-tube mouth or mouths, of a rocker or vibrating lever pivoted below the same, and its front portion or bar, (1, projectin g horizontally beyond the plane of the valvehinges, and means, substantially as described, for connecting said rocker to a tripping device for operating an alarm, so that when a valve fails it will strike upon such bar and tilt the rocker, as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination of the rocker or tiltinglever 11 with one or more d rop-valves arranged above it and adapted to close the mouths of speakingtubcs, the alarm, a trip device, and a cord connecting the latter with said rocker, substantially as shown and described, to operate as specified.

WILLIAM R. 081 'tANDEl-t.

Witnesses:

J AMES M. TULLY, JONATHAN M AR SHALL. 

